Ted Williams League armed with information to help prevent baseball injuries

Wednesday

Apr 8, 2009 at 12:01 AMApr 8, 2009 at 8:12 AM

Steve Ferroli loves baseball. He loves playing the game, and even more, he loves teaching it and he loves the fact that in the 12 years his Ted Williams League has been around, there hasn’t been a single case of Little League Elbow, a painful, but all too common injury in youth sports, especially baseball.

William Wassersug

Steve Ferroli loves baseball. He loves playing the game, and even more, he loves teaching it and he loves the fact that in the 12 years his Ted Williams League has been around, there hasn’t been a single case of Little League Elbow, a painful, but all too common injury in youth sports, especially baseball.

Ferroli played through his college years at Bridgewater State, and through all his time playing, he studied the science of hitting. When his playing days were through, he continued to study hitting.

His hard work led him to Hall of Fame hitter Ted Williams, who was one of the very first hitters ever to take a scientific approach to hitting a baseball. Williams was impressed, leading him to appoint Ferroli the No. 1 teacher of his hitting theories in 1997.

Williams, who authored “The Science of Hitting,” wrote the foreword to Ferroli’s two books, 1986’s “Disciple of a Master” and 1997’s “Hit Your Potential.”

“I’ve been talking about this guy for 15 years!,” Williams wrote in “Hit Your Potential.” “Still, he doesn’t get the attention he deserves because he didn’t play baseball professionally. It’s really not fair. The way I see it, hitting a baseball and teaching someone to hit a baseball are two different things. And I’ll tell you what – Steve Ferroli can teach it every bit as good as I could hit it!

“I took the game of baseball quite seriously and looking back I guess I did alright,” Williams wrote. “But when age started kicking me in the pants, I got to thinking more and more about kids – kids and baseball. I began to think about coaching and how important quality coaching is. Then I thought boy, who out there is going to be able to talk hitting and get it right? Who has the knowledge to answer the big league questions and the heart to put it on the line for the kids? I was describing Steve Ferroli.”

Those comments were part of what led to the founding of Ted Williams League Baseball, a non-profit baseball league for youth and adults as well.

Ted Williams League Baseball was the culmination of 10 years of study about youth baseball leagues by Ferroli, and was approved by Williams.

Now in its 12th season, Ferroli, a Pembroke resident, is hoping to take the league to the next level with the goal of going national soon.

This isn’t just another form of Little League or Cal Ripken Baseball, which are the more established leagues around the nation and the world. Ted Williams League baseball is a whole new way to play the game, a way that works to cut down on injuries, keep players more in focus of the game and give everyone an equal chance to play.

Many of the changes also seem to help give hitters an advantage – something Williams would surely buy into.

Ferroli has made it clear that in Ted Williams Baseball, the game belongs completely to the players.

Teams aren’t built through a draft or grouped only by age. Instead, players are assigned teams based on their skill level alone. If an older player is lacking certain skills or abilities, he or she might be sent to a team with younger players of the same skill level.

The competitive aspect of the games are also turned down, with strict rules against any and all types of poor sportsmanship by anyone, players, officials, coaches and fans included. There’s a speed-up rule to help even out blowout games, and at the end of the season, there are no All-Stars. Instead everyone is eligible to play in the League Tournament.

In the youngest divisions, including the Kid Division, mostly ages 7-and-8 and then Thumper Divison mostly for ages 8-12, everyone plays nearly equally. There are no players sitting on the bench waiting for that one inning in the field and one mandatory at-bat.

Instead, players join a rotation that has everyone with the exception of first base, pitcher and catcher, who each have to take a proficiency test to play those positions, rotate a position after every at-bat, giving all players a chance to experience every position. Batters are locked into a continuous lineup for the season and it picks up where it left off from the previous game, giving every batter equal chances to hit.

At the same time, teams have no one set coach. Instead, coaches take turns working with teams during games and practices, giving them more opportunity to teach fundamentals rather than just teach winning. It also makes it easier for any volunteer coaches. With floating coaches, someone can have two days free and be able to come and coach on those days without making the same kind of time commitment other leagues need.

“We call it the Toy Philosophy,” Ferroli said. “Kids should be seeing baseball as a toy, like a Matchbox car or an action figure. Something they can play with and have fun with. Thinking of baseball like a toy gives a youngster clear ownership of it.”

On the safety front, Ferroli’s studies, which have a basis in medical research, have paved the way for many more changes.

The biggest of the changes comes the closest to the batter – home plate.

Just about everywhere, the standard size of the plate is 17 inches across.

This is a big deal to Ferroli.

“The plate is too big for the kids’ small bodies,” he said. “For the younger kids we use a 14-inch plate, then move up to 15 1/2 inches in the A Division. As arm length increases, the plate should increase.

This change results in many different things.

For pitchers, who suffer most incidents of Little League Elbow, it forces them to slow down and work on their control.

For hitters, it means a smaller strike zone to protect and fewer flame throwers who just fire away and have more plate to work with.

The better focus on control cuts down on hit batters and the potential fear that comes with being hit by a pitch.

Combine that with a smaller, lighter baseball tailored for small hands and no elevated pitchers mound and you now have more balance – and less stress on a pitcher’s elbow from throwing.

Because there isn’t as much forced motion on a downward slope, the stress on an elbow is reduced. Add the fact that curveballs aren’t allowed, with a few exceptions for more developed pitchers, who fit what is called the shave rule, meaning that a youngster is generally physically developed enough to safely throw curves when they begin to shave, and there’s a declined risk of the injury.

Another unique rule that helps hitters improve is the walk rule.

If a batter watches ball four, the batter can elect to take it as a strike and get another pitch. The same rule applies to hit batters, who can just take the pitch as a ball and get another pitch.

“Good hitters want to hit,” Ferroli said. “Who wants to walk if you’re a good hitter?”

Williams walked a lot, but his walks were the result of a flawless understanding of the strike zone and distaste for swinging at pitches out of the zone. Of course, when Williams explained hitting, he could whittle it down to one sentence.

“Get a good pitch to hit,” he’d say.Ferroli still says it when asked for advice.

One thing Ferroli emphasized about the league is the fact that it is a non-profit organization and is not affiliated with his Ted Williams/Steve Ferroli Baseball Camp, other than the fact that his camp is a main sponsor of the league, which at the moment plays in Hanson.

Ferroli is actively looking to start new teams in all surrounding towns, and anywhere there may be interest.

The league, which used to play a fall schedule in respect for existing spring leagues before mosquitoes and the EEE virus ended it is currently taking registrations.

The fee is $99 for the season, but with the tough economy, Ferroli said that families who can’t afford the fee should contact the league about waiving fees.